Canine @ MindSay

Dixie currently feels:

Explosive

 

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White rabbits!

 

Yeah... That's supposed to bring good luck if it's the first thing you say on the first day of a month.

I don't know if it applies to specific months, or one specific month...

 

March is the month with my favourite month name.

I mean, how cool does it sound?

 

MARCH.

 

Although, white rabbits was not the first thing I said today.

The first thing I said today was:

 

"...And we'll get your ears through."

 

 

You're probably thinking: "...WTF MATE."

Well, that's what I said to Gina as I was putting her collar on.

 

She doesn't wear a collar in the house - she only wears it when she's outside or on a lead.

She has big floppy ears, and they'd gotten trapped underneath her collar.

I said that to her gently as I tried to free them.

 

 

 

This is Gina - laid on my parents' bed.

 

She was laid on my bed earlier, when I was cleaning my room. Cheeky cow.

 

Gina isn't our pet - she belongs to a friend of my parents.

They're away in India, so we're looking after her - as we often do when they go away.

 

When we do look after her though, she doesn't eat anything for the first day or two - but once she's accustomed herself to the surroundings, she'll eat something we put down for her.

If we let her eat anything from our hand, or from a plate on the floor - she'll be sick.

 

My parents took her to my nan's earlier - and apparently she was sick on her rug.

 

We were looking after Gina in Christmas of 2006 - and we'd put down a plate of turkey for her.

She ate it as fast as is actually possible - walked about four metres, then chucked it straight back up infront of the front door.

 

It didn't look much different to what it looked like before she'd eaten it.

 

 

When both of my parents are at work, I take Gina for a whizz on the field behind our house.

I've been asked by two of my friends why she squats to pee.

 

Quite simply - because she's a girl.

If you didn't know that - female dogs, or bitches - don't cock their leg to pee.

It's just like us female humans, we don't have a penis to direct our urine spray, so we have to sit or squat.

 

Whizzing in a forest is the worst for a girl - if you ever have to pee behind a tree or a bush in an emergency resort - you have to keep your balance, make sure you don't dall down with your arse in a pile of leaves and dirt - and you have to hold your trousers and pants back, to make sure you don't pee on them.

It's also a common accident to pee on one's shoes.

 

So boys - spare a thought for the females, who cannot aim their yellow expulsion.

 

I liked looking at the snow once Gina had whizzed on it when I took her for a walk on the snow-covered field last year - with a former friend of mine.

 

It was difficult for us both to stand up on the icy pathways, and I was suprised that Gina actually wanted to stay out in such weather - she doesn't like rain, wind, or fireworks.

 

I sat with her one night on bonfire night when we were all around my mam's friend's house for a party.

I was a little afraid myself - mainly because Gina kept looking like she wanted to bite me, although I just wanted to help.

 

 

 

 

Here's an extreme close-up.

- Taken by Adam, this afternoon.

 

Unless you really dislike dogs, I bet you can't stare into her eyes and not say "Awww!"

 

Go on. Try it.

Dixie dares you. :P

 

 

 

 

By Spc. Chris McCann, USA

Special to American Forces Press Service

 

March 22, 2007 – The terrorist is quiet during the search, letting Army Sgt. Harold Corey pat him down all along one side. But when Corey gets to his right hip, the terrorist shoves at him. It's less than a second before Wandor's huge mouthful of teeth is clamped around the terrorist's arm and Corey is out of danger, telling the dog "away!" to make him release the man's arm.  It's just a simulation and a chance for Wandor to play; "the terrorist" -- actually 1st Lt. Timothy Owens, the executive officer for Company A, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) -- is just trying out the "bite suit" used by dog trainers.

 

But even playing, Wandor, a Belgian Malinois, can take down a grown man in seconds, running at 30 miles per hour and exerting 1,400 pounds per square inch of bite pressure.

 

"It was really cool," said Owens, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas. "It was surprising how the dog looks so lean, but one twist, and he took me down. They're a great asset for enforcement and detection."

 

Corey, a native of Newport News, Va., has been working with dogs for three years with the 529th Military Police Company, based out of Heidelberg, Germany.

 

"I enjoy it," Corey said of the March 19 practice session, which was attended by several 210th BSB soldiers. "It's never not exciting to watch a dog take someone down."

 

The 2nd BCT, based here, has several attached handlers with dogs that accompany brigade missions every day.

 

Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Hart, a native of Syracuse, N.Y., and the BCT's provost marshal, explained that most of the dogs that work with the brigade are trained to seek explosives. But they are also adept at "combat tracking." While a human usually requires hearing two shots to pinpoint the direction of origin, dogs can point to the origin after only one shot, a skill that is critical when a sniper is shooting. Once the dog finds the shooter's hiding place, he can track the person and even pick him out of a lineup.

 

There are also patrol narcotics dogs, used during health-and-welfare inspections of troops, and dogs trained to seek bodies, Hart said.

 

The dogs are well-trained and well-kept, Hart explained. "They have veterinary coverage twenty-four seven," he said. "And there's medical evacuation coverage, as well, just like there is for humans. They're out there risking their lives too; it's only fair."

 

The handlers know basic first aid and life-support skills for the dogs, and a veterinarian is at the helipad waiting if a dog comes in injured.

 

So far, Hart said, the handlers haven't needed to medically evacuate a dog. One was killed in the line of duty while searching a house; an air-conditioning unit he jumped onto had an exposed high-powered wire on it. Other than that, he explained, they have had only minor injuries, such as cut paws.

 

And while the handlers haven't "let slip the dogs of war" -- as in Mark Antony's famous speech in William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" --, the animals have provided very tangible benefits for the brigade, sniffing out explosives and weaponry.

 

"They're a force multiplier," Corey said. "They can do the searching of five or six soldiers and do with their nose what a soldier has to do by prodding and digging. They make the job easier. Also, they're a visual deterrent; the local nationals are scared of them, so they're more cooperative."

 

Corey said that Wandor has found several weapons while helping on cordon-and-search missions. "He finds weapons in houses even before the homeowners turn them over to us," Corey said.

 

Instead of having to move everything in a house, he just sniffs around, and when he finds something, he sits. Then we just have to move one thing to get to the weapons."

 

Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Shannon Bragg, a native of Denver, Colo., who is assigned to a San Diego-based deployable canine unit, is also attached to the 2nd BCT.

 

While Bragg has been working with dogs for several years, the one assigned to him now -- "Don," a German shepherd -- is fresh from school at Lackland Air Force Base, near San Antonio.

 

"He's a 'green' dog," Bragg explained. "His detection skills are much better than his aggression. He's got a great nose on him. But he's young, only 3, and he's still in the puppy stage."

 

Don showed his prowess at finding pieces of detonation cord hidden in the 210th BSB's supply yard, hunkering down as he caught a whiff of explosive and then sitting as soon as he found the source.

 

All of the hard training works, Corey explained, because the dogs think of the job as a game.

 

"A dog is like a 5-year-old child," he said. "To get a kid to do something, you make it fun."

 

The object of the game for Wandor -- as it is for almost every other military working dog -- is a beehive-shaped rubber toy called a "Kong." If he finds explosives, he gets to play. Corey explained that the dogs are trained to understand that finding the object of their search might take awhile, but if a mission is fruitless for too long, he's prepared with a piece of detonation cord.

 

"I'll hand it to someone else and ask them to hide it for me," Corey said. Wandor can then find the cord and win some quality time playing with his Kong before moving on and continuing the quest.

 

"I always carry training aids to refresh his interest," Corey said.

 

Athough it may be like a game for the dog, the perspective is different on the other side of those sharp teeth.

 

After being bitten through the padded bite suit, Army Chief Warrant Officer Julio Hall, a native of Grafton, N.H., and a supply systems technician with the 210th BSB, said he had more respect for the dogs' power and for the capabilities they provide against terrorists.

 

"The dog took me down right away," he said. "The dog itself is pretty intimidating. If I was an insurgent, I'd be petrified."

 

(Army Spc. Chris McCann is assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division.)

 

This article was sponsored by criminal justice online and military and police personnel who have authored books.

I dont have one client scheduled today.  SO.. going to take advantage, run some errands, drop both my doggies off to get their nails clipped and a flea dip for the summer, cause its finally here with a vengence..how do you go from cold and chilly for the most part, to 80-90 over nite.its incredibly hard to adjust to!

Then I called the massage school, and they have an opening at 1 for a massage and it is with one of my favorite students ..and I have been thinking of asking her to come work for me part time, to help my therapist out, while I have my surgery.. .I hope that she says yes. :)

Son-still a inmate..no one has bailed his sorry gluteus maximus out yet..

THANK goodness.

I also made an appointment for Monday for me to go see a d.e.n.t.i.s.t.... would rather go to a gyno anyday..but I do need to tend to these poor suckers, I do think they are going to have to come out..I used to have such beeutiful teeth... and hopefully they will make me have nice gnashers again!

Love and Laughter,

Dawn